ICE Classic is a unique series of classical music concerts, which induced Kraków to the group of important music stages in Europe. All concerts of the ICE Classic series are held in the Krzysztof Penderecki Hall at the ICE Kraków Congress Centre. Thanks to the concert space offered by the ICE Kraków Congress Centre, the capital of the Małopolska region has at its disposal a concert venue accommodating nearly 2,000 people, with excellent technical facilities and high acoustic performance.
The ICE Classic brand is consistently built upon the performances of the greatest stars of classical music. Krakow has already hosted some of the most outstanding opera soloists of our times: Aleksandra Kurzak, Edita Gruberová, Diana Damrau, Elīna Garanča and Philippe Jaroussky, exquisite instrumentalists: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Isabelle Faust, Ivo Pogorelić and Piotr Anderszewski, the outstanding conductor Kent Nagano with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Sir Simon Rattle with the London Symphony Orchestra, Philippe Herreweghe with Orchestre des Champs-Elysées and the extraordinary composer Max Richter.
This year's series has already brought to Kraków pianist Jan Lisiecki. The main figure of the next instalment (15 June) will by Fabio Biondi, one of the leading figures in the world of early music. In Kraków, the Italian violinist and conductor with his own ensemble Europa Galante will perform an exceptional version of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, where each violin concerto is intertwined with arias from Baroque operas thematically related to the given season. The arias will be performed by Hungarian soprano Emöke Baráth. The program is entitled The Voice of Nature.
Patricia Kopatchinskaja is a violinist known for her musical character, virtuosity and going beyond the framework of music in her activity. Together with Giovanni Antonini and his ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, they prepared a program WHAT’S NEXT VIVALDI?, in which Vivaldi’s ultra-virtuoso concerts (e.g., Il Grosso Mogul RV 208, La Tempesta di Mare – for violin! – RV 253 and RV 157, 191, 550) are intertwined with short works written by modern composers, most of them commissioned by Patricia Kopatchinskaja. The excellent violinist performs at the ICE Kraków Congress Centre on 30 August.
This year’s cycle closes on 10 October with the performance by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. One of the finest orchestras in the UK, it was founded in 1946 by the legendary conductor and impresario Sir Thomas Beecham. The ensemble has recorded countless albums under the baton of some of the finest conductors around the globe. Since 2021, the orchestra’s artistic director has been Vasily Petrenko. The concert opens with Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 in D major “Classical” – one of the masterpieces which were at the forefront of the Neoclassical movement in the early 20th century. The symphony is followed by Max Bruch’s light Violin Concerto in G minor with soloist Sergei Krylov, and the evening closes with the monumental Symphony No. 2 in D major by Jean Sibelius. It is one of the greatest masterpieces of Finnish music, and it has been greatly popular since its world premiere in 1902.
The concert was due to be performed as part of the ICE Classic cycle in 2020, but it had to be postponed due to the pandemic. The organisers are delighted to return to it today while we remember that Ukraine is fighting a heroic battle with the Russian invaders just beyond our eastern border. All guest artists have expressed their unequivocal protest against the aggression. The organisers believe that their involvement will boost the voice of global opposition to the Russian regime and its brutal crimes.
